Hampton Swarms To Home Win

January 06, 2000|By HEATH A. SMITH Daily Press

HAMPTON — The Hampton University Lady Pirates liked what they did so much against North Carolina A&T on Monday that they decided to do the same thing to the South Carolina State Lady Bulldogs Wednesday night.

The Lady Pirates' defense pressured the Lady Bulldogs all night in a 96-60 victory at the Convocation Center in Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference action. On Monday night, they defeated the Aggies 103-61.

Hampton's pressure defense helped lead to 38 South Carolina State turnovers, 25 of which came off of steals. MEAC Rookie-of-the-Week Lashondra Dixon led the Lady Pirates with seven steals. Dixon was also one of five Lady Pirates to score in double digits with 12 points, as Hampton shot 50.7 percent from the field. Senior center Tasha Newman and sophomore forward Kiandra Poteat led the Hampton with 15 points apiece.

"We were picked to win the conference so we had to come out and make a statement," said Hampton head coach Patricia Bibbs. "They're coming after us so we have to go after them."

About the only player from South Carolina State who did not seem bothered by the Lady Pirates' pressure defense was guard Lushanna Burgess, who led all scorers in the game with 28 points. Burgess was just 8-of-18 from the field, but was 6-of-14 from 3 -point range. As a team, however, South Carolina State shot just 37.3 percent from the field.

"We're still working on our transition defense," Bibbs said. "South Carolina State looks for Burgess to score and she did. You just have to stop that sort of thing."

The win improved Hampton to 3-0 in the MEAC, 5-7 overall, while South Carolina State fell to 1-4 in the MEAC, 2-11 overall. The Lady Pirates led 48-26 at halftime, but had no intention of taking it easy on the Lady Bulldogs in the second half. In fact, Hampton went on a 14-1 run in the middle of the second half to take a 74-42 lead. Hampton later went on an 8-0 run, giving the Lady Pirates a 86-49 lead with just under 10 minutes left in the game.

South Carolina State shot just 25 percent from the field in the first half and turned the ball over 22 times. Of the Lady Bulldogs' 22 turnovers, 12 came off of Lady Pirate steals. Lineni Noa led Hampton with five first-half steals to go along with her 10 points. Jessica Faust had two steals for Hampton and also led the Lady Pirates with 11 first- half points. Burgess led all scorers in the first half with 12 points for South Carolina State.

Noa had the hot hand for the Lady Pirates early first half, hitting back-to-back 3-pointers. The second of Noa's 3-pointers sparked an 11-0 run, the first of two big first-half runs for the Lady Pirates.

The Lady Pirates were up 16-7 after that run, but Yokia Fuller's jumper and Burgess' two free throws, cut Hampton's lead to 16-11. A 14-0 run would increase their lead to 30-9. Jessica Faust sparked that run with a jumper and two free throws.

Heath A. Smith can be reached at 247-4638 or by e-mail at hsmith@dailypress.com